Dynamics of the public-debt-to-gdp ratio: can it explain the risk premium of treasury bonds?

Unlabelled: We examine the relationship between the risk premium markets demand to hold the Treasury Bonds of a given country and the sustainability of the public finances of the country. We inquire to what extent do markets use the dynamic evolution of the public-debt-to-gdp ratio as an indication of the likelihood of a public debt default. Specifically, our empirical research design involves the following steps: (i) we use the dynamic equation of the public-debt-to-gdp ratio to build forecasts of future values of this ratio in the eurozone countries; (ii) we then use these forecasts in a regression to see how important they are to explain the risk premium implicit in the treasury bond yields.